Loquat fruit is one of the most perishable fruits in China, and has a very limited shelf life because of mechanical injury and microbial decay. Due to an increasing concern about human health and environmental security, antagonistic microorganisms have been a potential alternative for fungicides to control postharvest diseases. In this work, the antifungal effect of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by Bacillus methylotrophicus BCN2 and Bacillus thuringiensis BCN10 against five postharvest pathogens isolated from loquat fruit, Fusarium oxysporum, Botryosphaeria sp., Trichoderma atroviride, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, and Penicillium expansum were evaluated by in vitro and in vivo experiments. As a result, the VOCs released by BCN2 and BCN10 were able to suppress the mycelial growth of all targeted pathogens according to inhibition ratio in the double petri-dish assay as well as disease incidence and disease diameter on loquat fruits. The main volatile compounds were identified by solid-phase microextraction (SPME)-gas chromatography. These VOCs produced by the two strains played complementary roles in controlling these five molds and enabled loquat fruits to keep fresh for ten days, significantly. This research will provide a theoretic foundation and technical support for exploring the functional components of VOCs applicable in loquat fruit preservation.

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BackgroundThe mechanism of cuproptosis has recently been reported in lipoylated proteins of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Besides, the role of copper was previously recognized in cancer progression. We evaluated the prognostic value of cuproptosis-related gene expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).MethodsRemarkable genes were selected both in differential expression analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis from ninety-six cuproptosis-related genes using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The relationships between clinical characteristics and gene expression were performed with Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and logistic regression. Clinicopathologic factors correlated with overall survival in HCCs conducting univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis. Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis 2 (GEPIA2) and Human Protein Atlas (HPA) databases were utilized to verify the results. Furthermore, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) identified the potential key pathways that dominate cuproptosis in HCC.ResultsElevated ATP7A, SLC25A3, SCO2, COA6, TMEM199, ATP6AP1, LIPT1, DLAT, PDHA1, MTF1, ACP1, FDX2, NUBP2, CIAPIN1, ISCA2 and NDOR1 expression, as well as declined AOC1, FDX1, MT-CO1, and ACO1 expression were significantly emerged in HCC tumor tissues and were significantly associated with HCCs poor survival. The expressions of screened cuproptosis-related genes were prominently related to clinical features. GSEA analysis reported many key signaling pathways (such as natural killer cell mediated cytotoxicity, TCA cycle, glutathione metabolism, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, Notch signaling pathway, ErbB signaling pathway, and metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome p450) were differentially enriched in HCCs with varying degrees of cuproptosis-related genes expression.ConclusionsThe twenty cuproptosis-related genes might be utilized as new candidate prognostic biomarkers for HCC.

Rationale: Mutations of SARS-CoV-2, which is responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), could impede drug development and reduce the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. Here, we developed a multiplexed Spike-ACE2 Inhibitor Screening (mSAIS) assay that can measure the neutralizing effect of antibodies across numerous variants of the coronavirus's Spike (S) protein simultaneously. Methods: The SARS-CoV-2 spike variant protein microarrays were prepared by printing 72 S variants onto a chemically-modified glass slides. The neutralization potential of purified anti-S antibodies and serum from convalescent COVID-19 patients and vaccinees to S variants were assessed with the mSAIS assay. Results: We identified new S mutations that are sensitive and resistant to neutralization. Serum from both infected and vaccinated groups with a high titer of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) displayed a broader capacity to neutralize S variants than serum with low titer NAbs. These data were validated using serum from a large vaccinated cohort (n = 104) with a tiled S peptide microarray. In addition, similar results were obtained using a SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus neutralization assay specific for wild-type S and five prevalent S variants (D614G, B.1.1.7, B.1.351, P.1, B.1.617.2), thus demonstrating that high antibody diversity is associated with high NAb titers. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate the utility of the mSAIS platform in screening NAbs. Moreover, we show that heterogeneous antibody populations provide a more protective effect against S variants, which may help direct COVID-19 vaccine and drug development.

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Background: The hepatitis C virus infection is a high-risk factor for cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. However, since the majority of hepatitis C patients are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, they remain undetected with no timely treatment. In this study, we collected the data of patients positive for HCV antibodies and HCV-RNA from our hospital and analyzed the status and characteristics of hepatitis C virus infection in a hospital featuring infectious diseases.Methods: Data were obtained from patients admitted to Beijing Ditan Hospital between 2017 and 2020. The HCV antibodies and HCV-RNA positivity rates were compared among different age groups along with the age distribution of positive patients. In addition, HCV antibodies and HCV-RNA positivity rates, as well as inpatients HCV antibody detection rate, were analyzed between 2017 and 2020. Results: The average positivity rate (%) of HCV antibody was 6.78%, with the highest rate in the 50-59 age group. Whereas, the average positivity rate (%) of HCV-RNA testing was 24.08%, which showed a continuous increase with an increase in age. Patients aged 50–59 years comprised the highest number of patients with both HCV antibodies and HCV-RNA positivity. Women had a higher positivity rate of HCV antibodies than men (P<0.001). Between 2017 and 2020, the positivity rate (%) of HCV antibodies showed a continuous decrease from 7.6% to 6.24% (P<0.0001). Contrastingly, the positivity rate (%) of HCV-RNA showed a continuous increase from 22.03% to 26.58% (P = 0.0004). The detection rate of HCV antibodies in inpatients was 59.8%, while the positivity rate was 5.24%. While the detection rate showed an upward trend, the positivity rate showed a downward trend.Conclusions: Our hospital displayed a clustering effect on HCV-infected patients as well as on the high-risk group of people. Hence, there was a need to strengthen the awareness in patients for active screening of hepatitis C, especially in patients over 40 years of age. The population with age 50–59 was more susceptible to HCV infection and required more attention to hepatitis C screening. Furthermore, inpatient detection results should be completely used to ensure more visibility and on-time treatment of patients.

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